Smart streaming of data between external systems and service providers in an on-demand environment

ABSTRACT

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for facilitating smart streaming of data between external systems and service providers in an on-demand services environment according to one embodiment. In one embodiment and by way of example, a method comprises splitting, by a streaming server computing device (“streaming device”), a file including messages associated with multiple tenants in a multitenant environment based on growth of the file over a time-period. The method may further include grouping, by the streaming device, the messages into multiple files based on intelligence fields associated with one or more of the messages and the tenants, where each file of the multiple files corresponds to a tenant of the multiple tenants. The method may further include uploading, by the streaming device, the multiple files to a database device associated with a service provider and coupled to the streaming server device.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

One or more implementations relate generally to data management; morespecifically, to facilitating smart streaming of data between externalsystems and service providers in an on-demand services environment.

BACKGROUND

Conventional techniques for communication of messages between externalsystems and service providers in multi-tenant environments often fail toscale for number or organizational growth of tenants, which often leadsto inefficiencies like duplication of messages, breach of call limits,etc.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not beassumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in thebackground section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the backgroundsection or associated with the subject matter of the background sectionshould not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the priorart. The subject matter in the background section merely representsdifferent approaches.

In conventional database systems, users access their data resources inone logical database. A user of such a conventional system typicallyretrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user's ownsystems. A user system might remotely access one of a plurality ofserver systems that might in turn access the database system. Dataretrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from theuser system to the database system. The database system might processthe request for information received in the query and send to the usersystem information relevant to the request. The secure and efficientretrieval of accurate information and subsequent delivery of thisinformation to the user system has been and continues to be a goal ofadministrators of database systems. Unfortunately, conventional databaseapproaches are associated with various limitations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings like reference numbers are used to refer tolike elements. Although the following figures depict various examples,one or more implementations are not limited to the examples depicted inthe figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system having a computing device employing a smartstreaming communication mechanism according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a smart streaming communication mechanism accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a transaction sequence for facilitating smartstreaming communication of data between service providers and externalsystems through streaming data pipeline according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for facilitating smart streamingcommunication of data between service providers and external systemsthrough streaming data pipeline according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a computer system according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an environment wherein an on-demand database servicemight be used according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates elements of environment of FIG. 6 and variouspossible interconnections between these elements according to oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, embodiments of the invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structuresand techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure theunderstanding of this description.

Embodiments provide for a novel technique for organized and controlledcommunication of intelligence fields-based messages between externalsystems (e.g., SalesforceIQ® or simply SIQ) and service providers (e.g.,Salesforce.com® or simply Salesforce) such that the communication isaccounted for time, content, and quantity. In one embodiment, as will befurther described in this document, a timer is introduced to work withcontent-based criteria to periodically monitor the data to point out andeliminate any excess or irrelevant data that is determined to be wastingtime, while predetermined quantity parameters are set to keep anyapplication programming interface (API) call limits under the allocatedceiling.

It is contemplated that embodiments and their implementations are notmerely limited to multi-tenant database system (“MTDBS”) and can be usedin other environments, such as a client-server system, a mobile device,a personal computer (“PC”), a web services environment, etc. However,for the sake of brevity and clarity, throughout this document,embodiments are described with respect to a multi-tenant databasesystem, such as Salesforce.com®, which is to be regarded as an exampleof an on-demand services environment. Other on-demand servicesenvironments include Salesforce® Exact Target Marketing Cloud™.

As used herein, a term multi-tenant database system refers to thosesystems in which various elements of hardware and software of thedatabase system may be shared by one or more customers. For example, agiven application server may simultaneously process requests for a greatnumber of customers, and a given database table may store rows for apotentially much greater number of customers. As used herein, the termquery plan refers to a set of steps used to access information in adatabase system.

In one embodiment, a multi-tenant database system utilizes tenantidentifiers (IDs) within a multi-tenant environment to allow individualtenants to access their data while preserving the integrity of othertenant's data. In one embodiment, the multitenant database stores datafor multiple client entities each identified by a tenant ID having oneor more users associated with the tenant ID. Users of each of multipleclient entities can only access data identified by a tenant IDassociated with their respective client entity. In one embodiment, themultitenant database is a hosted database provided by an entity separatefrom the client entities, and provides on-demand and/or real-timedatabase service to the client entities.

A tenant includes a group of users who share a common access withspecific privileges to a software instance. A multi-tenant architectureprovides a tenant with a dedicated share of the software instancetypically including one or more of tenant specific data, usermanagement, tenant-specific functionality, configuration,customizations, non-functional properties, associated applications, etc.Multi-tenancy contrasts with multi-instance architectures, whereseparate software instances operate on behalf of different tenants.

Embodiments are described with reference to an embodiment in whichtechniques for facilitating management of data in an on-demand servicesenvironment are implemented in a system having an application serverproviding a front end for an on-demand database service capable ofsupporting multiple tenants, embodiments are not limited to multi-tenantdatabases nor deployment on application servers. Embodiments may bepracticed using other database architectures, i.e., ORACLE®, DB2® by IBMand the like without departing from the scope of the embodimentsclaimed.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 having a computing device 120 employinga smart streaming communication mechanism (“streaming mechanism”) 110according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, streaming mechanism 110provides for time-ordered, content-aware, and ceiling-controlledstreaming of files having messages or records between external system250 (e.g., SIQ) of FIG. 2 and computing device 120. As illustrated, inone embodiment, computing device 120, being part of host organization101 (e.g., service provider, such as Salesforce.com®), represents orincludes a server computer acting as a host machine for employingstreaming mechanism 110 for facilitating smart deployment of metadatapackages in a multi-tiered, multi-tenant, on-demand servicesenvironment.

It is to be noted that terms like “queue message”, “job”, “query”,“request” or simply “message” may be referenced interchangeably andsimilarly, terms like “job types”, “message types”, “query type”, and“request type” may be referenced interchangeably throughout thisdocument. It is to be further noted that messages may be associated withone or more message types, which may relate to or be associated with oneor more customer organizations, such as customer organizations121A-121N, where, as aforementioned, throughout this document, “customerorganizations” may be referred to as “tenants”, “customers”, or simply“organizations”. An organization, for example, may include or refer to(without limitation) a business (e.g., small business, big business,etc.), a company, a corporation, a non-profit entity, an institution(e.g., educational institution), an agency (e.g., government agency),etc.), etc., serving as a customer or client of host organization 101(also referred to as “service provider” or simply “host”), such asSalesforce.com®, serving as a host of streaming mechanism 110.

Similarly, the term “user” may refer to a system user, such as (withoutlimitation) a software/application developer, a system administrator, adatabase administrator, an information technology professional, aprogram manager, product manager, etc. The term “user” may further referto an end-user, such as (without limitation) one or more of customerorganizations 121A-N and/or their representatives (e.g., individuals orgroups working on behalf of one or more of customer organizations121A-N), such as a salesperson, a sales manager, a product manager, anaccountant, a director, an owner, a president, a system administrator, acomputer programmer, an information technology (“IT”) representative,etc.

Computing device 120 may include (without limitation) server computers(e.g., cloud server computers, etc.), desktop computers, cluster-basedcomputers, set-top boxes (e.g., Internet-based cable television set-topboxes, etc.), etc. Computing device 120 includes an operating system(“OS”) 106 serving as an interface between one or more hardware/physicalresources of computing device 120 and one or more client devices130A-130N, etc. Computing device 120 further includes processor(s) 102,memory 104, input/output (“I/O”) sources 108, such as touchscreens,touch panels, touch pads, virtual or regular keyboards, virtual orregular mice, etc.

In one embodiment, host organization 101 may further employ a productionenvironment that is communicably interfaced with client devices 130A-Nthrough host organization 101. Client devices 130A-N may include(without limitation) customer organization-based server computers,desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile computing devices, such assmartphones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants, e-readers,media Internet devices, smart televisions, television platforms,wearable devices (e.g., glasses, watches, bracelets, smartcards,jewelry, clothing items, etc.), media players, global positioningsystem-based navigation systems, cable setup boxes, etc.

In one embodiment, the illustrated multi-tenant database system 150includes database(s) 140 to store (without limitation) information,relational tables, datasets, and underlying database records havingtenant and user data therein on behalf of customer organizations 121A-N(e.g., tenants of multi-tenant database system 150 or their affiliatedusers). In alternative embodiments, a client-server computingarchitecture may be utilized in place of multi-tenant database system150, or alternatively, a computing grid, or a pool of work servers, orsome combination of hosted computing architectures may be utilized tocarry out the computational workload and processing that is expected ofhost organization 101.

The illustrated multi-tenant database system 150 is shown to include oneor more of underlying hardware, software, and logic elements 145 thatimplement, for example, database functionality and a code executionenvironment within host organization 101. In accordance with oneembodiment, multi-tenant database system 150 further implementsdatabases 140 to service database queries and other data interactionswith the databases 140. In one embodiment, hardware, software, and logicelements 145 of multi-tenant database system 130 and its other elements,such as a distributed file store, a query interface, etc., may beseparate and distinct from customer organizations (121A-121N) whichutilize the services provided by host organization 101 by communicablyinterfacing with host organization 101 via network(s) 135 (e.g., cloudnetwork, the Internet, etc.). In such a way, host organization 101 mayimplement on-demand services, on-demand database services, cloudcomputing services, etc., to subscribing customer organizations121A-121N.

In some embodiments, host organization 101 receives input and otherrequests from a plurality of customer organizations 121A-N over one ormore networks 135; for example, incoming search queries, databasequeries, application programming interface (“API”) requests,interactions with displayed graphical user interfaces and displays atclient devices 130A-N, or other inputs may be received from customerorganizations 121A-N to be processed against multi-tenant databasesystem 150 as queries via a query interface and stored at a distributedfile store, pursuant to which results are then returned to an originatoror requestor, such as a user of client devices 130A-N at any of customerorganizations 121A-N.

As aforementioned, in one embodiment, each customer organization 121A-Nis an entity selected from a group consisting of a separate and distinctremote organization, an organizational group within host organization101, a business partner of host organization 101, a customerorganization 121A-N that subscribes to cloud computing services providedby host organization 101, etc.

In one embodiment, requests are received at, or submitted to, a webserver within host organization 101. Host organization 101 may receive avariety of requests for processing by host organization 101 and itsmulti-tenant database system 150. For example, incoming requestsreceived at the web server may specify which services from hostorganization 101 are to be provided, such as query requests, searchrequest, status requests, database transactions, graphical userinterface requests and interactions, processing requests to retrieve,update, or store data on behalf of one of customer organizations 121A-N,code execution requests, and so forth. Further, the web-server at hostorganization 101 may be responsible for receiving requests from variouscustomer organizations 121A-N via network(s) 135 on behalf of the queryinterface and for providing a web-based interface or other graphicaldisplays to one or more end-user client devices 130A-N or machinesoriginating such data requests.

Further, host organization 101 may implement a request interface via theweb server or as a stand-alone interface to receive requests packets orother requests from the client devices 130A-N. The request interface mayfurther support the return of response packets or other replies andresponses in an outgoing direction from host organization 101 to one ormore client devices 130A-N.

It is to be noted that any references to software codes, data and/ormetadata (e.g., Customer Relationship Model (“CRM”) data and/ormetadata, etc.), tables (e.g., custom object table, unified indextables, description tables, etc.), computing devices (e.g., servercomputers, desktop computers, mobile computers, such as tabletcomputers, smartphones, etc.), software development languages,applications, and/or development tools or kits (e.g., Force.com®,Force.com Apex™code, JavaScript™, jQuery™, Developerforce™,Visualforce™, Service Cloud Console Integration Toolkit (“IntegrationToolkit” or “Toolkit”), Platform on a Service™(“PaaS”), Chatter® Groups,Sprint Planner®, MS Project®, etc.), domains (e.g., Google®, Facebook®,LinkedIn®, Skype®, etc.), etc., discussed in this document are merelyused as examples for brevity, clarity, and ease of understanding andthat embodiments are not limited to any particular number or type ofdata, metadata, tables, computing devices, techniques, programminglanguages, software applications, software development tools/kits, etc.

It is to be noted that terms like “node”, “computing node”, “server”,“server device”, “cloud computer”, “cloud server”, “cloud servercomputer”, “machine”, “host machine”, “device”, “computing device”,“computer”, “computing system”, “multi-tenant on-demand data system”,and the like, may be used interchangeably throughout this document. Itis to be further noted that terms like “code”, “software code”,“application”, “software application”, “program”, “software program”,“package”, “software code”, “code”, and “software package” may be usedinterchangeably throughout this document. Moreover, terms like “job”,“input”, “request”, and “message” may be used interchangeably throughoutthis document.

FIG. 2 illustrates a smart streaming communication mechanism 110 of FIG.1 according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, streaming mechanism110 provides for time-ordered, content-aware, and ceiling-controlledstreaming of messages or records between external system 250 andcomputing device 120, where streaming mechanism 110 includes any numberand type of components, such as administration engine 201 having(without limitation): request/query logic 203; authentication logic 205;and communication/compatibility logic 207. Similarly, streamingmechanism 110 may further include criteria-based streaming data pipelineengine (“pipeline engine”) 211 including (without limitation): detectionand evaluation logic 213; criteria and decision logic 215; splitting andgrouping logic 217; streaming/routing logic 219; and interface logic221.

In one embodiment, computing device 120 may serve as a service providercore (e.g., Salesforce.com® core) for hosting and maintaining streamingmechanism 110 and be in communication with one or more database(s) 140,one or more client computer(s) 130A-N, over one or more network(s) 135,and any number and type of dedicated nodes. In one embodiment, one ormore database(s) 140 may be used to host, hold, or store data includingintelligence fields, time and capacity criteria, API call limits,messages and queries, tenant and organization data, etc.

As illustrated, computing device 120 (acting as Salesforce.com® core orstreaming server device), also referred to as “streaming server”throughout this document, is further in communication with externalcomputing system/device (“external system”) 250 serving as an externaldevice for performing certain computational tasks, such as measuringintelligence fields relating to the messages and their correspondingtenants. For example, external system 250 is shown as having measurementlogic 251 for computing intelligence fields that are then communicatedwith computing device 120 over network(s) 135 using communication logic253 and communication/compatibility logic 207.

Throughout this document, terms like “framework”, “mechanism”, “engine”,“logic”, “component”, “module”, “tool”, “builder”, “circuit”, and“circuitry”, may be referenced interchangeably and include, by way ofexample, software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.Further, any use of a particular brand, word, or term, such as“intelligence fields”, “streamer”, “streamer server device”, “pipeline”,“API”, “API call or call limit”, “time criteria”, “capacity criteria”,“duplication”, “evaluating”, “analyzing”, “profiling”, “selecting”,“deciding”, “routing”, “streaming”, “generating”, “maintaining”,“queuing”, “pipelining”, “customizing”, “testing”, “updating”,“upgrading”, etc., should not be read to limit embodiments to softwareor devices that carry that label in products or in literature externalto this document.

As aforementioned, with respect to FIG. 1, any number and type ofrequests and/or queries may be received at or submitted to request/querylogic 203 for processing. For example, incoming requests may specifywhich services from computing device 120 are to be provided, such asquery requests, search request, status requests, database transactions,graphical user interface requests and interactions, processing requeststo retrieve, update, or store data, etc., on behalf of one or moreclient device(s) 130A-N, code execution requests, and so forth.

In one embodiment, computing device 120 may implement request/querylogic 203 to serve as a request/query interface via a web server or as astand-alone interface to receive requests packets or other requests fromthe client device(s) 130A-N. The request interface may further supportthe return of response packets or other replies and responses in anoutgoing direction from computing device 120 to one or more clientdevice(s) 130A-N.

Similarly, request/query logic 203 may serve as a query interface toprovide additional functionalities to pass queries from, for example, aweb service into the multi-tenant database system for execution againstdatabase(s) 140 and retrieval of customer data and stored recordswithout the involvement of the multi-tenant database system or forprocessing search queries via the multi-tenant database system, as wellas for the retrieval and processing of data maintained by otheravailable data stores of the host organization's production environment.Further, authentication logic 205 may operate on behalf of the hostorganization, via computing device 120, to verify, authenticate, andauthorize, user credentials associated with users attempting to gainaccess to the host organization via one or more client device(s) 130A-N.

In one embodiment, computing device 120 may include a server computerwhich may be further in communication with one or more databases orstorage repositories, such as database(s) 140, which may be locatedlocally or remotely over one or more networks, such as network(s) 235(e.g., cloud network, Internet, proximity network, intranet, Internet ofThings (“IoT”), Cloud of Things (“CoT”), etc.). Computing device 120 isfurther shown to be in communication with any number and type of othercomputing devices, such as client computing devices) 130A-N, over one ormore communication mediums, such as network(s) 140.

As mentioned above, conventional techniques fail to account for usagelimitations associated with tenants, where messages, such asintelligence fields-based message, are communicated between systemswithout appropriately or sufficiently scaling for the growth in thenumber of and organizational set of tenants. For example, conventionaltechniques often allow for duplication of messages, breaching of APIcall ceilings allocated to tenants, etc.

Embodiments provide for a novel technique, as facilitated by streamingmechanism 110, for managing messages (e.g., intelligence fields-basedmessages) between external system 250 and streaming server 120 in termsof time, content, and quantity associated with messages. In oneembodiment, criteria and decision logic 215 is used to generate andapply predetermined criteria to allow for continuous or periodicmonitoring of messages, such as every few seconds, to facilitatedetection and evaluation logic 213 to systematically read and analyzedata from files within folders associated with various tenants.

For example, upon continuous or periodic monitoring of messages,criteria and decision logic 215 continues to work with and facilitatedetection and evaluation logic 213 to detect and evaluate messagesregarded as duplicates or unnecessary so that such message may then beremoved by criteria and decision logic 215 from being part of furthercommunication.

Similarly, it is contemplated that the in multi-tenant environments,tenants or organizations are encouraged to work their specifiedallocation of resources, such as queue space, number of messages, sizeof messages, job types, API calls, memory accesses, etc. However, withconventional techniques, it is observed that many tenants not onlymaximize their resources, but are often in violation of exceeding theirallocated limits which, in turn, victimizes other tenants and puts undueburden on resources offered by their service provider.

In one embodiment, criteria and decision logic 215 is further tointroduce predetermined parameters to place a check on how many APIcalls a tenant makes. For example, each tenant in a multi-tenantenvironment is like assigned a number of API calls and any more thanthat would be regarded as breaching the API call allocation ceiling and,as aforementioned, could victimize other tenants who are within theirlimits, which can place undue burden on the service provider and theavailable resources.

In one embodiment, by setting the predetermined parameters for APIcalls, as facilitated by criteria and decision logic 215, all API callsby tenants are detected, monitored, and analyzed by detection andevaluation logic 213. As aforementioned, criteria and decision logic 215is used to ensure tenants do not reach their API limits. For example, inone embodiment, upon detection of a growing file by detection andevaluation logic 213, splitting and grouping logic 217 is triggered tosplit the file into multiple files before there is any chance of any ofthe tenants reaching their API call limits. Similarly, in anotherembodiment, if any duplicates messages are present in the file asdetected by detection and evaluation logic 213, criteria and decisionlogic 215 is then triggered to be proactive, as opposed to beingreactive, by initiating a preventive measure of de-duplication processto eliminate the duplicates, such as through merging of identicalmessages, to free up the space in the file. This novel technique allowsfor the preventive measure to keep the system and its tenants fromreaching their API call limits as opposed to reacting upon reaching suchlimits.

Further, in one embodiment, if a file grows too big, none of themessages are to be removed from the file; instead, splitting andgrouping logic 217 is triggered to create a new file, while the existingfile is split across multiple corresponding tenant folders. However, aspart of a SOAP request by an individual tenant, extra messages may beremoved as facilitated by criteria and decision logic 215.

However, in some embodiments, when a file having messages associatedwith multiple tenants gets too big over time, as detected by detectionand evaluation logic 213, splitting and grouping logic 217 is thentriggered to split the file having messages associated with multipletenants into multiple files based on one or more of time, content, andcapacity criteria as set forth by criteria and decision logic 215. Inone embodiment, each of the multiple files corresponds to or contains agroup of messages corresponding to a tenant. In other words, uponsplitting the file, splitting and grouping logic 217 is then used togroup the message into multiple groups based on intelligence fieldsassociated with those messages such that each group of multiple groupscorresponds to a tenant of multiple tenants in a multi-tenantenvironment. Each group of messages is placed in a file corresponding toa tenant.

For example, each message is detected or consumed in a data pipeline,such as a novel streamer pipeline, and then written to a file, whilethis file can keep growing as new messages are added to it. Further, forexample, a file containing messages associated with multiple tenants cangrow to be someone complex since for each message and/or tenant,specific intelligence fields as generated by measurement logic 251 andcommunicated through communication logic 253. In one embodiment, if thefile grows up to expiration of a predetermined time period, T, or havingreached a predetermined number of records, X, splitting and groupinglogic 217 is triggered to split the file into multiple files based onintelligence fields, where each newly-generated file includes messagescorresponding to a tenant based on the corresponding intelligencefields. In one embodiment, T and X are configurable using criteria anddecision logic 215 as these two values, such as T and X, can be used toprevent message files from growing too big, such as when there is alarge burst of records set from external system 250 (e.g., SIQ) over thestreaming pipeline as offered through streaming mechanism 110.

Further, for each tenant, a directory may be generated and stored atdatabase(s)140 as facilitated by streaming/routing logic 219, where thedirectory may include files having messages or records relating to thecorresponding tenants. For example, directories are stored as part of afile system at database(s) 140, where there is at least one directorycorresponding to each tenant and includes files having recordsassociated with the corresponding tenant. In one embodiment, splittingand grouping logic 213 is used to read messages or records from suchfiles associated with tenants through their tenant identification(“tenant ID”) or organization identification (“organization ID”) andfurther, messages are written in files as part of folders that arefurther part of their directories as facilitated by splitting andgrouping logic 213. This process continues until each message is writtenin its corresponding file.

In one embodiment, once all messages are processed and written to theirfiles and assigned to specific folders in their respective directories,detection and evaluation logic 213 is used to scan all record IDsassociated with all records to detect any duplicate records. In oneembodiment, criteria and decision logic 215 is then used to eliminatethe duplication records by either merging them with their duplicates orsimply removing them from the files. In either embodiment, duplicaterecords are eliminated, resulting in a significant reduction in theoverall number of records that are to be communicated to the serviceprovider. As aforementioned, the remaining duplicate-free messages orrecords are then uploaded or communicated on to the service provider'ssystem through streaming server 120 through SOAP calls.

Further, as illustrated with reference to FIG. 3, in one embodiment,pipeline engine 211 of streaming mechanism 110 provides for a streamingdata pipeline for streaming of data, including files having messages,from one end to another, such as between streaming server 120 associatedwith a service provider (e.g., Salesforce.com) and external system 250associated with an external or third-party entity (e.g., SalesforceIQ).This novel streaming data pipeline provides for ingestion andtransformation of large amounts of data (e.g., messages, records, etc.)to be able to apply machine learning techniques and arrive at usefulmetrics for customers, such as tenants.

In one embodiment, the novel streaming data pipeline, as facilitated bypipeline engine 211, is provided through a cloud platform (e.g., webservices cloud, such as Amazon® Web Services (AWS), etc.) and may be anelastic bean instance (e.g., virtual machine). Since any data stored onvirtual machines may not be regarded as persistent and machine statesthemselves may be considered transient and thus when a virtual machinedies, in one embodiment, a new virtual machine is added to the relevantcluster of virtual machines at any given point in time as facilitated bycriteria and decision logic 215.

Further, detection and evaluation logic 213 is further used to listen toany changes occurring across the relationship between the serviceprovider and its tenants though a customer relationship management(CRM)-based technology and if it detects any changes, streaming/routinglogic 219 may then be triggered to send these changes across thestreaming data pipeline to external system 250 without manipulating thedata.

As previously described, in one embodiment, measurement logic 251 ofexternal system 250 associated with an external entity (e.g., SIQ)computes intelligence fields using its distributed infrastructure thatincludes or has access to (without limitations) storm topologies,elastic searches, and scalability and high availability databases (e.g.,Apache® Cassandra™), etc. Once intelligence fields are computed bymeasurement logic 251, they are then communicated back to streamingmechanism 110 at streaming server 120 through one or more distributedstreaming platforms (e.g., Apache® Kafka™) over network(s) 135 (e.g.,cloud network, Internet, etc.) as facilitated by communication logic 253and/or communication/compatibility logic 207.

On the other end, streaming data pipeline, as facilitated by pipelineengine 211, being part of cloud web services, listens to the one or moredistributed streaming platforms and receives the intelligence fieldsthat are then written back to the service provider through streamingmechanism 110. In one embodiment, these intelligence fields and/or anymessages or files including messages are communicated on to serviceprovider through streaming server 120 using messaging and transmittingprotocol-based calls, such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)calls. SOAP provides for a protocol specification for exchangingstructured information for implementing web services, etc. It iscontemplated, however, that embodiments are not limited to SOAP or anyother such protocol or standard.

Further, in one embodiment, interface logic 221 may be used tofacilitate interfacing between various components of streaming mechanism110 as well as with other components and/or devices, such as externalsystem 250, client computing devices 130A-N, database(s) 140, and/or thelike. For example, interface logic 221 may be used to provide userinterface(s) at computing device(s) 130A-N associated with tenants,where, for example, a user associated with a tenant may have access acorresponding one of computing device(s) 130A-N through a userinterface. Similarly, in one embodiment, interface logic 221 may be usedto facilitate and support user interface(s) at one or more computingdevice(s) 130A-N so that any queries, job requests, messages, etc., maybe placed by users through such user interface(s) at computing device(s)130A-N. It is contemplated that a user interface is not limited in formor type, such as a user interface may include (without limitations): aweb browser, Graphical User Interface (GUI), software application-basedinterface, etc., and further, an application programming interface(API), a Representational State Transfer (REST) or RESTful API, and/orthe like.

It is contemplated that a tenant may include an organization of any sizeor type, such as a business, a company, a corporation, a governmentagency, a philanthropic or non-profit entity, an educationalinstitution, etc., having single or multiple departments (e.g.,accounting, marketing, legal, etc.), single or multiple layers ofauthority (e.g., C-level positions, directors, managers, receptionists,etc.), single or multiple types of businesses or sub-organizations(e.g., sodas, snacks, restaurants, sponsorships, charitable foundation,services, skills, time etc.) and/or the like.

Communication/compatibility logic 207 may facilitate the ability todynamically communicate and stay configured with any number and type ofsoftware/application developing tools, models, data processing servers,database platforms and architectures, programming languages and theircorresponding platforms, etc., while ensuring compatibility withchanging technologies, parameters, protocols, standards, etc.

It is contemplated that any number and type of components may be addedto and/or removed from streaming mechanism 110 to facilitate variousembodiments including adding, removing, and/or enhancing certainfeatures. It is contemplated that embodiments are not limited to anytechnology, topology, system, architecture, and/or standard and aredynamic enough to adopt and adapt to any future changes.

FIG. 3 illustrates a transaction sequence 300 for facilitating smartstreaming communication of data between service providers and externalsystems through streaming data pipeline 301 according to one embodiment.Transaction sequence 300 may be performed by processing logic that maycomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,etc.), software (such as instructions run on a processing device), or acombination thereof. In one embodiment, transaction sequence 300 may beperformed or facilitated by one or more components of streamingmechanism 110 of FIG. 1. The processes of transaction sequence 300 areillustrated in linear sequences for brevity and clarity in presentation;however, it is contemplated that any number of them can be performed inparallel, asynchronously, or in different orders. Further, for brevity,clarity, and ease of understanding, many of the components and processesdescribed with respect to FIGS. 1-2 may not be repeated or discussedhereafter.

In the illustrated embodiment, transaction sequence 300 begins atexternal system 250 (e.g., SalesforceIQ™) with computation ofintelligence fields that are then sent over through streaming platform303 (e.g., Apache® Kafka™) so that the intelligence fields may be usedwith their corresponding messages or records as they relate to tenantsbefore being communicated over to a service provider (e.g.,Salesforce.com®) by uploaded to streaming server 120 using an API, suchas SOAP API.

In one embodiment, as illustrated, once the intelligence fields computedby external system 250 are received at streaming data pipeline 301 asfacilitated by detection and evaluation logic 213 of FIG. 2, theseintelligence fields are then written to a file (e.g., Avro file) at 305.At 307, as previously discussed with reference to FIG. 2, this file mayget bigger and bigger over time and upon reaching a criterion, such astime limit, content limit, etc., the file may then be split asfacilitated by splitting and grouping logic 217 and then re-grouped intosmaller files corresponding to their tenants and put intotenant-specific folders. In other words, a big file that contains datarelating to multiple tenants is broken down into smaller files such thateach file includes data corresponding to a single tenant.

At 309, time-based polling of the folders and their contents isperformed using tenant-IDs based on a timer set to predetermined timecriteria as set forth by criteria and decision logic 215. Further, at311, criteria and decision logic 215 facilitates deduping such that anyduplication of data is eliminated either through merging of duplicateswith the original or simply removing of duplicates all together.Further, at 311, a batch of files is put together and, as facilitated bystreaming/routing logic 219, the batch is uploaded on communicated on toone or more database(s) 140 through calling SOAP APIs and as facilitatedby communication/compatibility logic 207 and streamer server 120.

As discussed earlier with reference to FIG. 2, streaming data pipeline301 spans and works across CRM and with external system 250, whereexternal system 250 computes intelligence metric fields. This computeddata including intelligence fields is written o files and queues at 305.These changes are grouped by tenant-ID in time-ordered manner at 309,while duplicating records are eliminated at 311. If any duplicatingrecords remain, a SOAP call may throw an error.

In one embodiment, messages from data pipeline 301 are consumed andwritten to files at 305. As a file grows over a given time period, T,and upon having a number of records, X, where both T and X areconfigurable, the file is split at 307. In one embodiment, T and X areused to keep the file from growing too big with records when sendingfrom external system 250 to streaming server and the associateddatabase(s) 140 over streaming data pipeline 301.

In one embodiment, for each tenant, a directory is generated on a filesystem and this directory having files including records associated witha tenant allows for reading of messages, records, etc., as identifiedthrough a tenant-ID associated with the tenant. These records arewritten to folders at 307 and that are continued on until uploaded todatabase(s) 140 as facilitated by streaming server 120. Once allmessages are processed and writing to tenant-specific folders at 307,any duplicates are detected and eliminated (such as through merging ofidentical records) at 311. This final file is then uploaded todatabase(s) 140 using an API call, such as a SOAP call.

This novel technique allows for significant reduction in network trafficand resources by making fewer number of SOAP API calls, while ensuringthe data is sent or uploaded in time-ordered manner to allow for aconsistent view of the system for users. Further, using this approach,tenant-specific records are batched together in a single SOAP call,while eliminating duplicate record and, in turn, reducing the overallnumber of records. This also allows for saving of network bandwidth andreducing of overall number of SOAP calls made by the tenants so that thetenants do not breach their API call limits. Further, this way, userscan view intelligence fields in a time-ordered manner having consistentview of the system offered by the service provider, while batchingrecord updates at 311 ensure that tenants API call limits are notreached.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 for facilitating smart streamingcommunication of data between service providers and external systemsthrough a streaming data pipeline according to one embodiment. Method400 may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware(e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, etc.), software(such as instructions run on a processing device), or a combinationthereof. In one embodiment, method 400 may be performed or facilitatedby one or more components of streaming mechanism 110 of FIG. 1. Theprocesses of method 400 are illustrated in linear sequences for brevityand clarity in presentation; however, it is contemplated that any numberof them can be performed in parallel, asynchronously, or in differentorders. Further, for brevity, clarity, and ease of understanding, manyof the components and processes described with respect to FIGS. 1-3 maynot be repeated or discussed hereafter.

Method 400 begins at block 401 with detection and evaluation of initialdata, such as intelligence fields, measured by an external system (e.g.,SalesforceIQ™, etc.). At block 403, these intelligence fields are thenassociated with messages or records corresponding to tenants in amulti-tenant environment and written to files. At block 405, the filesare monitored continuously or over a predetermined time period (such asevery few seconds) for both their size and content. At block 407, adetermination is made as to whether a file has gotten to big (in size orcontent) for further processing, including communication of its contentsto a service provider (e.g., Salesforce.com®) associated with theexternal system, where the maximum threshold level for size and contentare provided by or based on predetermined criteria.

If the file's size and content are still manageable, such as still belowthe predetermined threshold, method 400 may then continue monitoring ofthe file at block 405. If, however, at block 409, the file has gottentoo big for size or content, such as the size or contents have exceededthe predetermined threshold, then the file is split in multiple partsbased on messages/records corresponding to tenants, such as each partincludes overall records (e.g., messages, intelligence fields, etc.)associated with a single tenant. In one embodiment, the correspondenceof messes/records with their tenants may be determined or establishedusing intelligence fields and tenant-IDs. For example, each tenant isassigned a unique tenant-ID and intelligence fields, which can be usedto determine their corresponding messages or records.

At block 411, each part is shaped or grouped into a new file having theoverall records corresponding to a single tenant (as identified bytenant-ID) such that multiple parts are now multiple files, where eachfile is placed in a folder corresponding to a tenant. At block 413, anyduplication of records in files is eliminated by either merging theidentical records or simply removing duplicate records from the files.At block 415, the folders are uploaded or communicated on to a computingdevice (e.g., streaming server computer) or one or more databasesassociated with the service provider, such as through calling SOAP API.By uploading these folders corresponding to single tenants, this noveltechnique also allows for keeping the SOAP API calls under thresholdcall limits.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 500 in theexemplary form of a computer system, in accordance with one embodiment,within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine 500 toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may beexecuted. Machine 500 is the same as or similar to computing devices120, 130A-N of FIG. 1. In alternative embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a network (such as hostmachine 120 connected with client machines 130A-N over network(s) 135 ofFIG. 1), such as a cloud-based network, Internet of Things (IoT) orCloud of Things (CoT), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network(WAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN),an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The machine may operate inthe capacity of a server or a client machine in a client-server networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment or as a server or series of servers within anon-demand service environment, including an on-demand environmentproviding multi-tenant database storage services. Certain embodiments ofthe machine may be in the form of a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC,a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellulartelephone, a web appliance, a server, a network router, switch orbridge, computing system, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated,the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection ofmachines (e.g., computers) that individually or jointly execute a set(or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The exemplary computer system 500 includes a processor 502, a mainmemory 504 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM(RDRAM), etc., static memory such as flash memory, static random accessmemory (SRAM), volatile but high-data rate RAM, etc.), and a secondarymemory 518 (e.g., a persistent storage device including hard disk drivesand persistent multi-tenant data base implementations), whichcommunicate with each other via a bus 530. Main memory 504 includesemitted execution data 524 (e.g., data emitted by a logging framework)and one or more trace preferences 523 which operate in conjunction withprocessing logic 526 and processor 502 to perform the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

Processor 502 represents one or more general-purpose processing devicessuch as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. Moreparticularly, the processor 502 may be a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing(RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor,processor implementing other instruction sets, or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor 502 may alsobe one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array(FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or thelike. Processor 502 is configured to execute the processing logic 526for performing the operations and functionality of query mechanism 110as described with reference to FIG. 1 and other Figures discussedherein.

The computer system 500 may further include a network interface card508. The computer system 500 also may include a user interface 510 (suchas a video display unit, a liquid crystal display (LCD), or a cathoderay tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), acursor control device 514 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generationdevice 516 (e.g., an integrated speaker). The computer system 500 mayfurther include peripheral device 536 (e.g., wireless or wiredcommunication devices, memory devices, storage devices, audio processingdevices, video processing devices, etc. The computer system 500 mayfurther include a Hardware based API logging framework 534 capable ofexecuting incoming requests for services and emitting execution dataresponsive to the fulfillment of such incoming requests.

The secondary memory 518 may include a machine-readable storage medium(or more specifically a machine-accessible storage medium) 531 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 522)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions of querymechanism 110 as described with reference to FIG. 1, respectively, andother figures discussed herein. The software 522 may also reside,completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504 and/orwithin the processor 502 during execution thereof by the computer system500, the main memory 504 and the processor 502 also constitutingmachine-readable storage media. The software 522 may further betransmitted or received over a network 520 via the network interfacecard 508. The machine-readable storage medium 531 may include transitoryor non-transitory machine-readable storage media.

Portions of various embodiments may be provided as a computer programproduct, which may include a computer-readable medium having storedthereon computer program instructions, which may be used to program acomputer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according tothe embodiments. The machine-readable medium may include, but is notlimited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disk read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), and magneto-optical disks, ROM, RAM, erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically EPROM (EEPROM),magnet or optical cards, flash memory, or other type ofmedia/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronicinstructions.

The techniques shown in the figures can be implemented using code anddata stored and executed on one or more electronic devices (e.g., an endstation, a network element). Such electronic devices store andcommunicate (internally and/or with other electronic devices over anetwork) code and data using computer-readable media, such asnon-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., magnetic disks;optical disks; random access memory; read only memory; flash memorydevices; phase-change memory) and transitory computer-readabletransmission media (e.g., electrical, optical, acoustical or other formof propagated signals—such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals). In addition, such electronic devices typically include a setof one or more processors coupled to one or more other components, suchas one or more storage devices (non-transitory machine-readable storagemedia), user input/output devices (e.g., a keyboard, a touchscreen,and/or a display), and network connections. The coupling of the set ofprocessors and other components is typically through one or more bussesand bridges (also termed as bus controllers). Thus, the storage deviceof a given electronic device typically stores code and/or data forexecution on the set of one or more processors of that electronicdevice. Of course, one or more parts of an embodiment may be implementedusing different combinations of software, firmware, and/or hardware.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an environment 610 wherein anon-demand database service might be used. Environment 610 may includeuser systems 612, network 614, system 616, processor system 617,application platform 618, network interface 620, tenant data storage622, system data storage 624, program code 626, and process space 628.In other embodiments, environment 610 may not have all of the componentslisted and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to,those listed above.

Environment 610 is an environment in which an on-demand database serviceexists. User system 612 may be any machine or system that is used by auser to access a database user system. For example, any of user systems612 can be a handheld computing device, a mobile phone, a laptopcomputer, a workstation, and/or a network of computing devices. Asillustrated in herein FIG. 6 (and in more detail in FIG. 7) user systems612 might interact via a network 614 with an on-demand database service,which is system 616.

An on-demand database service, such as system 616, is a database systemthat is made available to outside users that do not need to necessarilybe concerned with building and/or maintaining the database system, butinstead may be available for their use when the users need the databasesystem (e.g., on the demand of the users). Some on-demand databaseservices may store information from one or more tenants stored intotables of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system(MTS). Accordingly, “on-demand database service 616” and “system 616”will be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one ormore database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) orthe equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information againstthe database object(s). Application platform 618 may be a framework thatallows the applications of system 616 to run, such as the hardwareand/or software, e.g., the operating system. In an embodiment, on-demanddatabase service 616 may include an application platform 618 thatenables creation, managing and executing one or more applicationsdeveloped by the provider of the on-demand database service, usersaccessing the on-demand database service via user systems 612, orthird-party application developers accessing the on-demand databaseservice via user systems 612.

The users of user systems 612 may differ in their respective capacities,and the capacity of a particular user system 612 might be entirelydetermined by permissions (permission levels) for the current user. Forexample, where a salesperson is using a particular user system 612 tointeract with system 616, that user system has the capacities allottedto that salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that usersystem to interact with system 616, that user system has the capacitiesallotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical rolemodel, users at one permission level may have access to applications,data, and database information accessible by a lower permission leveluser, but may not have access to certain applications, databaseinformation, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level.Thus, different users will have different capabilities with regard toaccessing and modifying application and database information, dependingon a user's security or permission level.

Network 614 is any network or combination of networks of devices thatcommunicate with one another. For example, network 614 can be any one orany combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network),telephone network, wireless network, point-to-point network, starnetwork, token ring network, hub network, or other appropriateconfiguration. As the most common type of computer network in currentuse is a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol)network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred toas the “Internet” with a capital “I,” that network will be used in manyof the examples herein. However, it should be understood that thenetworks that one or more implementations might use are not so limited,although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol.

User systems 612 might communicate with system 616 using TCP/IP and, ata higher network level, use other common Internet protocols tocommunicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTPis used, user system 612 might include an HTTP client commonly referredto as a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from anHTTP server at system 616. Such an HTTP server might be implemented asthe sole network interface between system 616 and network 614, but othertechniques might be used as well or instead. In some implementations,the interface between system 616 and network 614 includes load-sharingfunctionality, such as round-robin HTTP request distributors to balanceloads and distribute incoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality ofservers. At least as for the users that are accessing that server, eachof the plurality of servers has access to the MTS′ data; however, otheralternative configurations may be used instead.

In one embodiment, system 616, shown in FIG. 6, implements a web-basedcustomer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in oneembodiment, system 616 includes application servers configured toimplement and execute CRM software applications as well as providerelated data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and fromuser systems 612 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database systemrelated data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system,data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical databaseobject, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of onetenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that onetenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such datais expressly shared. In certain embodiments, system 616 implementsapplications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. Forexample, system 616 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted(standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User(or third-party developer) applications, which may or may not includeCRM, may be supported by the application platform 618, which managescreation, storage of the applications into one or more database objectsand executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the processspace of the system 616.

One arrangement for elements of system 616 is shown in FIG. 6, includinga network interface 620, application platform 618, tenant data storage622 for tenant data 623, system data storage 624 for system data 625accessible to system 616 and possibly multiple tenants, program code 626for implementing various functions of system 616, and a process space628 for executing MTS system processes and tenant-specific processes,such as running applications as part of an application hosting service.Additional processes that may execute on system 616 includedatabase-indexing processes.

Several elements in the system shown in FIG. 6 include conventional,well-known elements that are explained only briefly here. For example,each user system 612 could include a desktop personal computer,workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any wireless access protocol(WAP) enabled device or any other computing device capable ofinterfacing directly or indirectly to the Internet or other networkconnection. User system 612 typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., abrowsing program, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser,Netscape's Navigator browser, Opera's browser, or a WAP-enabled browserin the case of a cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like,allowing a user (e.g., subscriber of the multi-tenant database system)of user system 612 to access, process and view information, pages andapplications available to it from system 616 over network 614. Usersystem 612 further includes Mobile OS (e.g., iOS® by Apple®, Android®,WebOS® by Palm®, etc.). Each user system 612 also typically includes oneor more user interface devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball,touch pad, touch screen, pen or the like, for interacting with agraphical user interface (GUI) provided by the browser on a display(e.g., a monitor screen, LCD display, etc.) in conjunction with pages,forms, applications and other information provided by system 616 orother systems or servers. For example, the user interface device can beused to access data and applications hosted by system 616, and toperform searches on stored data, and otherwise allow a user to interactwith various GUI pages that may be presented to a user. As discussedabove, embodiments are suitable for use with the Internet, which refersto a specific global internetwork of networks. However, it should beunderstood that other networks can be used instead of the Internet, suchas an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), anon-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like.

According to one embodiment, each user system 612 and all of itscomponents are operator configurable using applications, such as abrowser, including computer code run using a central processing unitsuch as an Intel Core® processor or the like. Similarly, system 616 (andadditional instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) and allof their components might be operator configurable using application(s)including computer code to run using a central processing unit such asprocessor system 617, which may include an Intel Pentium® processor orthe like, and/or multiple processor units. A computer program productembodiment includes a machine-readable storage medium (media) havinginstructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a computerto perform any of the processes of the embodiments described herein.Computer code for operating and configuring system 616 tointercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other dataand media content as described herein are preferably downloaded andstored on a hard disk, but the entire program code, or portions thereof,may also be stored in any other volatile or non-volatile memory mediumor device as is well known, such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on anymedia capable of storing program code, such as any type of rotatingmedia including floppy disks, optical discs, digital versatile disk(DVD), compact disk (CD), microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, andmagnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs),or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/ordata. Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may betransmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmissionmedium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is wellknown, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection asis well known (e.g., extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communicationmedium and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as arewell known. It will also be appreciated that computer code forimplementing embodiments can be implemented in any programming languagethat can be executed on a client system and/or server or server systemsuch as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any other markup language, Java™JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scripting language, such as VBScript, andmany other programming languages as are well known may be used. (Java™is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.).

According to one embodiment, each system 616 is configured to providewebpages, forms, applications, data and media content to user (client)systems 612 to support the access by user systems 612 as tenants ofsystem 616. As such, system 616 provides security mechanisms to keepeach tenant's data separate unless the data is shared. If more than oneMTS is used, they may be located in close proximity to one another(e.g., in a server farm located in a single building or campus), or theymay be distributed at locations remote from one another (e.g., one ormore servers located in city A and one or more servers located in cityB). As used herein, each MTS could include one or more logically and/orphysically connected servers distributed locally or across one or moregeographic locations. Additionally, the term “server” is meant toinclude a computer system, including processing hardware and processspace(s), and an associated storage system and database application(e.g., OODBMS or RDBMS) as is well known in the art. It should also beunderstood that “server system” and “server” are often usedinterchangeably herein. Similarly, the database object described hereincan be implemented as single databases, a distributed database, acollection of distributed databases, a database with redundant online oroffline backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include adistributed database or storage network and associated processingintelligence.

FIG. 7 also illustrates environment 610. However, in FIG. 7 elements ofsystem 616 and various interconnections in an embodiment are furtherillustrated. FIG. 7 shows that user system 612 may include processorsystem 612A, memory system 612B, input system 612C, and output system612D. FIG. 7 shows network 614 and system 616. FIG. 7 also shows thatsystem 616 may include tenant data storage 622, tenant data 623, systemdata storage 624, system data 625, User Interface (UI) 730, ApplicationProgram Interface (API) 732, PL/SOQL 734, save routines 736, applicationsetup mechanism 738, applications servers 700 ₁-700 _(N), system processspace 702, tenant process spaces 704, tenant management process space710, tenant storage area 712, user storage 714, and application metadata716. In other embodiments, environment 610 may not have the sameelements as those listed above and/or may have other elements insteadof, or in addition to, those listed above.

User system 612, network 614, system 616, tenant data storage 622, andsystem data storage 624 were discussed above in FIG. 6. Regarding usersystem 612, processor system 612A may be any combination of one or moreprocessors. Memory system 612B may be any combination of one or morememory devices, short term, and/or long term memory. Input system 612Cmay be any combination of input devices, such as one or more keyboards,mice, trackballs, scanners, cameras, and/or interfaces to networks.Output system 612D may be any combination of output devices, such as oneor more monitors, printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown byFIG. 7, system 616 may include a network interface 620 (of FIG. 6)implemented as a set of HTTP application servers 700, an applicationplatform 618, tenant data storage 622, and system data storage 624. Alsoshown is system process space 702, including individual tenant processspaces 704 and a tenant management process space 710. Each applicationserver 700 may be configured to tenant data storage 622 and the tenantdata 623 therein, and system data storage 624 and the system data 625therein to serve requests of user systems 612. The tenant data 623 mightbe divided into individual tenant storage areas 712, which can be eithera physical arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within eachtenant storage area 712, user storage 714 and application metadata 716might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy of auser's most recently used (MRU) items may be stored to user storage 714.Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire organization that is atenant might be stored to tenant storage area 712. A UI 730 provides auser interface and an API 732 provides an application programmerinterface to system 616 resident processes to users and/or developers atuser systems 612. The tenant data and the system data may be stored invarious databases, such as one or more Oracle™ databases.

Application platform 618 includes an application setup mechanism 738that supports application developers' creation and management ofapplications, which may be saved as metadata into tenant data storage622 by save routines 736 for execution by subscribers as one or moretenant process spaces 704 managed by tenant management process 710 forexample. Invocations to such applications may be coded using PL/SOQL 734that provides a programming language style interface extension to API732. A detailed description of some PL/SOQL language embodiments isdiscussed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,478 entitled, “Methodand System for Allowing Access to Developed Applicants via aMulti-Tenant Database On-Demand Database Service”, issued Jun. 1, 2010to Craig Weissman, which is incorporated in its entirety herein for allpurposes. Invocations to applications may be detected by one or moresystem processes, which manage retrieving application metadata 716 forthe subscriber making the invocation and executing the metadata as anapplication in a virtual machine.

Each application server 700 may be communicably coupled to databasesystems, e.g., having access to system data 625 and tenant data 623, viaa different network connection. For example, one application server 700₁ might be coupled via the network 614 (e.g., the Internet), anotherapplication server 700 _(N-1) might be coupled via a direct networklink, and another application server 700 _(N) might be coupled by yet adifferent network connection. Transfer Control Protocol and InternetProtocol (TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating betweenapplication servers 700 and the database system. However, it will beapparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols may beused to optimize the system depending on the network interconnect used.

In certain embodiments, each application server 700 is configured tohandle requests for any user associated with any organization that is atenant. Because it is desirable to be able to add and remove applicationservers from the server pool at any time for any reason, there ispreferably no server affinity for a user and/or organization to aspecific application server 700. In one embodiment, therefore, aninterface system implementing a load balancing function (e.g., an F5Big-IP load balancer) is communicably coupled between the applicationservers 700 and the user systems 612 to distribute requests to theapplication servers 700. In one embodiment, the load balancer uses aleast connections algorithm to route user requests to the applicationservers 700. Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as roundrobin and observed response time, also can be used. For example, incertain embodiments, three consecutive requests from the same user couldhit three different application servers 700, and three requests fromdifferent users could hit the same application server 700. In thismanner, system 616 is multi-tenant, wherein system 616 handles storageof, and access to, different objects, data and applications acrossdisparate users and organizations.

As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that employs asales force where each salesperson uses system 616 to manage their salesprocess. Thus, a user might maintain contact data, leads data, customerfollow-up data, performance data, goals and progress data, etc., allapplicable to that user's personal sales process (e.g., in tenant datastorage 622). In an example of a MTS arrangement, since all of the dataand the applications to access, view, modify, report, transmit,calculate, etc., can be maintained and accessed by a user system havingnothing more than network access, the user can manage his or her salesefforts and cycles from any of many different user systems. For example,if a salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internetaccess in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates as tothat customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the lobby.

While each user's data might be separate from other users' dataregardless of the employers of each user, some data might beorganization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users orall of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus, theremight be some data structures managed by system 616 that are allocatedat the tenant level while other data structures might be managed at theuser level. Because an MTS might support multiple tenants includingpossible competitors, the MTS should have security protocols that keepdata, applications, and application use separate. Also, because manytenants may opt for access to an MTS rather than maintain their ownsystem, redundancy, up-time, and backup are additional functions thatmay be implemented in the MTS. In addition to user-specific data andtenant specific data, system 616 might also maintain system level datausable by multiple tenants or other data. Such system level data mightinclude industry reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharableamong tenants.

In certain embodiments, user systems 612 (which may be client systems)communicate with application servers 700 to request and updatesystem-level and tenant-level data from system 616 that may requiresending one or more queries to tenant data storage 622 and/or systemdata storage 624. System 616 (e.g., an application server 700 in system616) automatically generates one or more SQL statements (e.g., one ormore SQL queries) that are designed to access the desired information.System data storage 624 may generate query plans to access the requesteddata from the database.

Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of objects, suchas a set of logical tables, containing data fitted into predefinedcategories. A “table” is one representation of a data object, and may beused herein to simplify the conceptual description of objects and customobjects. It should be understood that “table” and “object” may be usedinterchangeably herein. Each table generally contains one or more datacategories logically arranged as columns or fields in a viewable schema.Each row or record of a table contains an instance of data for eachcategory defined by the fields. For example, a CRM database may includea table that describes a customer with fields for basic contactinformation such as name, address, phone number, fax number, etc.Another table might describe a purchase order, including fields forinformation such as customer, product, sale price, date, etc. In somemulti-tenant database systems, standard entity tables might be providedfor use by all tenants. For CRM database applications, such standardentities might include tables for Account, Contact, Lead, andOpportunity data, each containing pre-defined fields. It should beunderstood that the word “entity” may also be used interchangeablyherein with “object” and “table”.

In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be allowed to createand store custom objects, or they may be allowed to customize standardentities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for standardobjects, including custom index fields. U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/817,161, filed Apr. 2, 2004, entitled “Custom Entities and Fields ina Multi-Tenant Database System”, and which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference, teaches systems and methods for creating custom objects aswell as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant database system.In certain embodiments, for example, all custom entity data rows arestored in a single multi-tenant physical table, which may containmultiple logical tables per organization. It is transparent to customersthat their multiple “tables” are in fact stored in one large table orthat their data may be stored in the same table as the data of othercustomers.

Any of the above embodiments may be used alone or together with oneanother in any combination. Embodiments encompassed within thisspecification may also include embodiments that are only partiallymentioned or alluded to or are not mentioned or alluded to at all inthis brief summary or in the abstract. Although various embodiments mayhave been motivated by various deficiencies with the prior art, whichmay be discussed or alluded to in one or more places in thespecification, the embodiments do not necessarily address any of thesedeficiencies. In other words, different embodiments may addressdifferent deficiencies that may be discussed in the specification. Someembodiments may only partially address some deficiencies or just onedeficiency that may be discussed in the specification, and someembodiments may not address any of these deficiencies.

While one or more implementations have been described by way of exampleand in terms of the specific embodiments, it is to be understood thatone or more implementations are not limited to the disclosedembodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims shouldbe accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and similar arrangements. It is to be understood that theabove description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: monitoring, by a streamingdevice, a file over a time-period for detecting growth of the file overthe time-period, the file having messages corresponding to tenants in amulti-tenant environment; splitting, by the streaming device, the fileinto multiple files based on the growth of the file, wherein the growthrepresents increase in contents of the messages over the time-periodsuch that the file is split into the multiple files when the growth hasreached a growth threshold; grouping, by the streaming device, themessages into the multiple files based on intelligence fields associatedwith one or more of the messages and the tenants, wherein each file ofthe multiple files corresponds to a tenant; eliminating one or morecontent duplications from the one or more messages of the multiple filesby (1) removing the one or more content duplications or (2) merging theone or more messages with one or more identical messages without the oneor more content duplications; uploading, by the streaming device, themultiple files to a database; and communicating, by the streamingdevice, the multiple files to one or more computing devices via thedatabase.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the intelligence fields arecomputed by an external system and communicated on to the serviceprovider using a streaming data pipeline as facilitated by the streamingserver device.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising evaluating,by the streaming device, the multiple files for detecting the one ormore duplications in the one or more messages of the multiple files. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising placing, streaming device, themultiple files in multiple folders prior to uploading to the databasedevice, wherein each of the multiple folders corresponds to a tenant ofthe multiple tenants.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein uploading isfacilitated through one or more calls comprising Simple Object AccessProtocol (SOAP) API calls such that the one or more calls are within aplurality of calls allocated to the multiple tenants.
 6. A databasesystem comprising: a streaming device including a processing devicecoupled to a storage device, the processing device to executeinstructions to facilitate operations comprising: monitoring a file overa time-period for detecting growth of the file over the time-period, thefile having messages corresponding to tenants in a multi-tenantenvironment; splitting the file into multiple files based on the growthof the file, wherein the growth represents increase in contents of themessages over the time-period such that the file is split into themultiple files when the growth has reached a growth threshold; groupingthe messages into the multiple files based on intelligence fieldsassociated with one or more of the messages and the tenants, whereineach file of the multiple files corresponds to a tenant; eliminating oneor more content duplications from the one or more messages of themultiple files by (1) removing the one or more content duplications or(2) merging the one or more messages with one or more identical messageswithout the one or more content duplications; uploading the multiplefiles to a database; and communicating the multiple files to one or morecomputing devices via the database.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe intelligence fields are computed by an external system andcommunicated on to the service provider using a streaming data pipelineas facilitated by the streaming server device.
 8. The system of claim 6,wherein the operations further comprise evaluating, by the streamingdevice, the multiple files for detecting the one or more duplications inthe one or more messages of the multiple files.
 9. The system of claim6, wherein the operations further comprise placing the multiple files inmultiple folders prior to uploading to the database device, wherein eachof the multiple folders corresponds to a tenant of the multiple tenants.10. The system of claim 6, wherein uploading is facilitated through oneor more calls comprising Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API callssuch that the one or more calls are within a plurality of callsallocated to the multiple tenants.
 11. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by aprocessing device, cause the processing device to perform operationscomprising: monitoring a file over a time-period for detecting growth ofthe file over the time-period, the file having messages corresponding totenants in a multi-tenant environment; splitting the file into multiplefiles based on the growth of the file, wherein the growth representsincrease in contents of the messages over the time-period such that thefile is split into the multiple files when the growth has reached agrowth threshold; grouping the messages into the multiple files based onintelligence fields associated with one or more of the messages and thetenants, wherein each file of the multiple files corresponds to atenant; eliminating one or more content duplications from the one ormore messages of the multiple files by (1) removing the one or morecontent duplications or (2) merging the one or more messages with one ormore identical messages without the one or more content duplications;uploading the multiple files to a database; and communicating themultiple files to one or more computing devices via the database. 12.The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein theintelligence fields are computed by an external system and communicatedon to the service provider using a streaming data pipeline asfacilitated by the streaming server device.
 13. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the operations furthercomprise evaluating, by the streaming device, the multiple files fordetecting the one or more duplications in the one or more messages ofthe multiple files.
 14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 11, wherein the operations further comprise placing the multiplefiles in multiple folders prior to uploading to the database device,wherein each of the multiple folders corresponds to a tenant of themultiple tenants.
 15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 11, wherein uploading is facilitated through one or more callscomprising Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API calls such that theone or more calls are within a plurality of calls allocated to themultiple tenants.